Why Us Brits Love Our Tea

Tea, whilst only a drink, too many people, (mainly us Brits), it is so much more than that. And yes I’m aware this probably sounds extremely weird but let me explain. In Britain tea is a prestige tradition and ritual, there isn’t a morning where I don’t wake up and make myself a tea to start the day and the same at night (minus the waking up part) and I assume this is the same for many. My day starts and ends with tea and a large majority of the middle is filled with the consumption of the hot beverage as well. Why though, why are we Brits obsessed with tea? It’s crazy if you think about it. I guess one reason tea is treasured by so many is because it is so versatile. You can have it black or white, with or without sugar, with honey, iced or hot, various different flavours, the list goes on and almost everyone I know claims they make the best cup of tea, it’s something all Brits pride themselves on, kind of like how gorillas beat their chests. We even treat tea as some kind of medicine sometimes. As a kid I remember cutting my head open and being in shock so my Mum said “I’ll make you a tea, and add sugar to calm the nerves”. Does this work, it’s unlikely but we definitely like to believe so. Tea also works wonders in social situations, at work you don’t have a break it’s usually a tea break, it acts as an ice breaker if you have a guest at your house you immediately ask them if they would like a tea and the conversation flows from there. Not only this, and this part is going to sound weird, but tea is always there for us no matter what. If we are feeling cold, sad, angry, depressed or a multitude of other emotions, tea will never fail to make us feel better, and this might not be the same for everyone but it definitely is for me.

So yeah a bit of a strange post but one that I feel was important as I don’t think tea gets the credit it deserves sometimes. Let me know if I’m not the only one who loves tea this much and give me back some of my sanity. Keep smiling, Harrison 🙂